7. The Branch of the Lord

In the Old Testament Jesus is presented four times as “The Branch” It will be helpful to look at these.

Jeremiah 23:5-6. “I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper.”

Zechariah 3:8. “Behold I will bring forth my Servant the Branch.”

Zechariah 6:12. “Behold the Man whose name is the Branch.”

Isaiah 4:2. “In that day the Branch of Jehovah shall be beautiful and glorious.”

But these are exactly the descriptions of Jesus found in the four Gospels.

Matthew describes Jesus as King. His genealogy is from Abraham and David, a royal descent.

Mark describes Jesus as the ideal Servant of the Lord. Hence no genealogy. Servants must have character reference, not lineage.

Luke describes Jesus as truly Man. Hence the genealogy goes back to Adam, the first man.

John describes Jesus as truly God. No genealogy. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was God.”

Furthermore John’s description of the Cherubim has the same story. (Rev. 4:7)

“The first living creature was like a Lion.” The Lion is the King of the beasts.

“The second living creature was like a Calf.” The Ox is the Servant of Man.

“The third living creature had the face of a Man.” Humanity,

“The fourth living creature was like a Flying Eagle.” Symbol of God Himself.

Putting all this together we conclude that the early Christians who compiled the canon of the New Testament knew exactly in which order to present the Four Gospels. Only in more “enlightened times” do we read about Mark being the first, and Matthew and Luke copying him. No. Each writer was led by the Holy Spirit to present Christ in one specific character. All four were necessary to give the fulness of the One who came from heaven to be Emmanuel, God with us. This truth comes to us from the Hebrew word ZEMACH, the Branch.

About Arthur Eedle

Arthur was born in 1931, and became a Christian in 1948. At London University he gained a 2nd honours degree in Physics. He went on to get a Teaching Diploma, and throughout his career life taught physics in England, Kenya, and Hong Kong. Coupled with his love of science, he was a keen student of Greek and Hebrew, and gave many lectures on Biblical subjects. Read more